She sat next to him as he flipped to the first book in the New Testament and began scouring the pages until he found the 22nd chapter. She didn't miss the slight fingershake as he located the 14th verse.
"Matthew 22:14," he read aloud, "For many are...
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Star rubbed the back of her head and glowered at the idiot before her. The one called Jack was giving a cringe-worthy "apology" smile. It was clear that he felt bad about knocking her out, but that didn't lessen the blow any.
"I didn't mean to, I swear," he said again.
"Can you guys just stop already?" Taylor whined. "It's not like you tried to kill her. On purpose."
"True, true," Jack agreed. "I mean something hit me in the dark and my body just reacted like a fine-tuned machine. I can't be held accountable–"
"–just stop. I'm fine," Star said again.
She sighed. Last she knew, she'd been in a tunnel, heard some noise, and ran into something that had flung her against a wall. Then she was waking up in a similar room to the one they'd started in. That was all.
Jack was still looking at the ground like he'd done something wrong, and the other boy seemed quieter than Taylor. She still didn't know his name, or any of them, really. A boy with wavy blond hair sat underneath the blocked-up tunnel, going through a book.
"Is that the Bible we found?" She asked.
"No." He briefly looked up. "It's the New Testament. Nyla has the Old Testament."
Recognition dawned on her face. She nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. So together we have a complete set." She cast a glance around the room. Taylor, of course, was crying or praying, she wasn't too sure. Her face was hidden behind that curtain of hair while she sat in the corner away from everyone else.
"Where is Nyla?"
"The wall," Jack answered nonchalantly.
"The wall," Star repeated. She looked to the other boy, the smart one, for confirmation and he gave her a curt nod. "The tunnels stopped shaking and revealed a passage. She climbed in to see what was on the other side and the slab re-sealed itself."
"She's sealed into the wall?"
"With the other half of the book."
"Was there anything useful in there?"
"On the other end of the tunnel is a door with light coming through it. "For many are called..." is written on the ceiling. 22 times on the left, 14 on the right."
She rubbed at her wrist. "Disturbing."
"Yes," he agreed. "All the letters are lowercase except for the letter 'M'."
"So we just need to figure out...how to open the second door using the fragment of a sentence, corresponding numbers, and the letter M."
He nodded. Star decided she liked him. He was far more useful than Taylor and seemed capable of actually solving something. She stood up, dusted herself off, and approached the wall. "Nyla?"
"...Star?"
"Yes."
"I'm so glad you're okay!"
Star's smile was brief. "No thanks to Jack."
"I couldn't hear what happened."
"It's not important," she went on. "What are you looking for in the Old Testament?"
"...just words that start with M, like places or things."
Star thought for a moment. She looked down at Reed. "What about the book titles?"
"Huh?"
She refrained from slapping herself on the forehead. Barely. "The Bible is a collection of books. Try going to the books that start with the M, and then using 22 as the chapter and 14 as the verse."
Reed looked up and gave her a quick nod. "We haven't tried that yet. Good idea."
"Thanks."
She sat next to him as he flipped to the first book in the New Testament, Matthew, and began scouring the pages until he found the 22nd chapter. She didn't miss the slight fingershake as he located the 14th verse.
"Matthew 22:14," he read aloud. "For many are called...but few are chosen."
As soon as he finished the verse, the room began to shake and a loud click rang out from deep within the wall. The slab began to sink slowly.
"It's open!"
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